The term “machine to machine (M2M) communication” refers to communication that is performed between electronic devices. Although, in a broad sense, the term “M2M communication” refers to wired or wireless communication between electronic devices or communication between a device that is controlled by a human and a machine, the term has generally been used recently to indicate wireless communication between electronic devices, i.e., wireless communication between devices.
In the early 1990's when the M2M communication concept was introduced, M2M was considered a concept such as remote control or telematics and associated markets were greatly limited. However, in recent years, M2M communication has been continuously rapidly developed to create a new market that is attracting domestic and global attention. Especially, M2M communication has exerted a great influence upon fields such as Point Of Sale (POS) and fleet management in the security-related application market and a smart meter for automatically measuring the amount of consumed heat or electricity, measuring an operating time of construction equipment and facilities, and remote monitoring machines and facilities. In the future, M2M communication will be used for a wider variety of purposes, in combination with existing mobile communication and wireless high-speed Internet or low-power communication solutions such as Wi-Fi and ZigBee, and will no longer be limited to the B2B market, expanding into a B2C market.
In the M2M communication era, all machines equipped with a SIM card can transmit and receive data such that it is possible to remotely manage and control all such machines. For example, the application range of M2M communication technology is very broad such that M2M communication technology can be used for a great number of devices and equipment such as cars, trucks, trains, containers, vending machines, and gas tanks.
Human type communication (HTC) devices (e.g., mobile terminals) have been generally managed in individual units, and thus communication between a base station (BS) and a mobile station (MS) has been one to one communication. In such an environment, when considering numerous M2M terminals, it is expected that the network would be overloaded due to signaling generated between each of the individual M2M terminals and the base station. As stated above, when M2M communication is rapidly distributed and widely used, overhead due to communication between M2M terminals or communication between M2M terminals and the base station may become a problem.
Further, in a communication environment between an HTC device and a base station, as an M2M device is introduced and the M2M device also performs communication, there is a need for distinguishing the HTC device from the M2M device, and in a situation in which various M2M devices exist according to the application type, there is a need for discussing, with the base station, M2M requirements or features according to the application of the M2M device. However, up to now, no specific solution regarding how to distinguish a HTC device from an M2M device and how to discuss M2M features or requirements has been suggested.